On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is an approach that allows decision-makers to quickly and interactively analyze multi-dimensionally modeled data appropriate to various contexts. Example applications of OLAP include business reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process management, budget forecasting, financial reporting, and similar areas.
OLAP systems analyze data from a number of different perspectives, and support complex analysis against large data sets. There is a number of different types of OLAP architectures, including Relational Online Analytical Processing (ROLAP), Multi-dimensional OLAP (MOLAP), and Hybrid Online Analytic Processing (HOLAP).